Mr. Speaker, I thank the parliamentary secretary for his remarks, but he is still doing the same thing: evading the main issue.
We all believe in security in transportation and the necessity of checking the identities of passengers boarding planes. No one disputes that. However, gender is an irrelevant characteristic and does not need to be checked to establish identity. We know that other countries do not do this and have equally safe air transportation systems. The fact is that although the intention may not have been to discriminate against transgendered Canadians, having this unnecessary regulation very clearly results in that discrimination and the violation of privacy rights, exposure to prejudice and, ultimately, difficulties in travelling.
I know the government likes to talk about unnecessary regulations and the necessity to remove them. I am offering this as one that is very simple and would not affect security. It would not require the gate agents of all the airlines to be experts in gender identity or force transgendered Canadians into a situation in which they may be discriminated against, exposed to prejudice and prevented from flying.
Once again, I would call on the government to eliminate this unnecessary regulation, which has nothing to do with the safety of air travel.